Debates leave Obama scrambling to assert second-term agenda

President Obama, pictured in Florida earlier this week, will make stops in four states on Thursday.

AP Photo/Alan Diaz

After weeks of campaigning and debating on the offense, President Barack Obama may be left scrambling in the final days of his campaign to defend his plans for the next four years.

“Look, the president’s got bigger problems than trying to disqualify Mitt Romney now,” Chuck Todd said on Morning Joe Tuesday. ”The president has to requalify himself for a second term.”

Speaking from Boca Raton, Fl., Todd noted that the shift in message began during Obama’s closing statement last night. “I’ve got a different vision for America,” he said before detailing plans to boost jobs, education, and sustainable energy, while ending the wars.

An Obama ad released this morning continues describing that plan, with the president asking voters to compare his plan to Gov. Romney’s and vote for which will serve them best during the next four years.

But Todd said the president may be running out of time.

Two weeks is “not enough time to have the conversation with voters they want to have,” he said. “If the president loses this election, tactically, the biggest mistake will be the president’s performance in the first debate.”